Eagle92

When Venturing came out in in 1998, and Venture Crews in the troops became Venture Patrols, all kinds of confusion arose because of the similar sounding programs, as well as Venturing taking the designation of "Crew" and renaming of the group within the troop from "Crew" to "Patrol" that confusion was commented on prior to the rollout of the program, and we are still dealing with the confusion today, IMHO. hence the reason I asked for clarification in my first reply. Also as evidenced with a Venture patrols in my district and council using Venturing insignia on their patrol flags and on their boy scout uniforms. I have seen a Venturing Crew arise from a troop. Long story short, the Venture Crew/Patrol leader wanted info on the Bronze, Gold, Silver, and Ranger awards, and wanted the patrol to work on them. He was confused by the changes until he sat down with the DE and had it explained to him. This young took the info back to his patrol, got them pumped up about Venturing, and took it to the SM and CC. The youth created bylaws that basically said, A)membership was restricted to Star, Life, Eagles, and ASMs under age 21, B) Primary responsibility of members was their work with the troop C)Crew would camp with troop and do assignments based upon their duties with the troop (we were using the Venture patrol on the old Leadership Corps model, so they were doign a lot of teaching) BUT camp separately from the patrols( already doing anyway, not quite Kudu's 100 yards, but enough that each patrol was on their own and close enough in an emergency) and D) the Crew would do one activity on their own per quarter. It worked out quite well until Katrina casued alot of member of the troop and crew to move permanently.

Saw today that teh Yellow blouses are now in the CLOSEOUT section of Scoutstuff.org. So if you ladies hate the Centennial uniforms like my wife does, now is the time to buy.

And now a plug for a lcoal distributor. The Hobby Shop of Wilson, NC has a size Medium CS leader Boonie hat in stock. Too small for me.

Adam, BSA Lifeguard no longer teaches boating rescues, nor does it teach the "going without support," aka 'hand to hand combat," i.e. front head hold with body scissors release (my personal favorite), rear headhold with body scissors, control tows, etc. Everything is "going with support," i.e. going with ring bouys, yubes, etc. Sorry things happen, emergencies arise, and sometimes you will not have equipment with you when you need to make a rescue. That happened to me this past April. LG was correcting a swimmer, person started panicing, and I had to jump in without equipment and do a upper arm hold with lower back thrust to get the victim on his back and floating. I don't think any of the lifeguards today know that maneuver.

AF, That Venturer boonie hat is no longer made, wished I had one BTW, and has been replaced by something that lookes like the old French Foreign Legion caps. As for the CS boonie, it doesn't look too bad witht he field uniform as long as you wear the matching blue loops As for the Expedition hat, no it doesn't come with the whip, that's a YP issue, but you can hum the Indian Jones theme song in it I got some crazy looks when I was doing some minor archeology work at a scout camp in the UK and I was wearing that hat and humming the theme song.

Mbrown, I can name one time when I would not allow parents:when the PLC specifically states that they no longer want parents and siblings along on trips. That is something I and others in the PLC did tell the SM and CC one time after a trip that went bad due to the parents and siblings issue. I concur with comments to far, let the 'rents know that they are observing the youth only, and that since they are camping, they must pull their fair share of the workload for the adults, i.e. cooking, cleaning, cutting firewood, etc. Oraginize them as a patrol train those that need it to do the jobs, get them out of their comfort zones, and KEEP THEM AWAY FROM THE SCOUTS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE (caps for emphasis).

John, Four words to solve your problem with T-2-1 Adavancement: BRING BACK SKILL AWARDS. (caps for emphasis, not shouting) EDITED: OK another 4 words I just thought of: BRING BACK TIME REQUIREMENTS ( caps for emp)(This message has been edited by eagle92)

'hiker, Do you mean Venture Crew as in older scout patrol and is now called a Venture Patrol, or are you referring to Venturing Crew which is a separate organized unit that is coed? Not tryin to be nitpicky about language, as usually I know what folks are talking about, but in this case I need that info and details to help.

Eng, Where there is a will to camping, there is a way. I will grant you that you are not a camper, you've stated here and elsewhere on the net that you are not a camper, and there is nothing wrong with that. You like AC and so do I. But when it's time to go outdoors, I do not complain. I know tricks to keep cool and use them.

West, one of national's traiing updates stated that BALOO will remain the same, and that WeLOT and IOLS will be merged into one course. Then another Update stated the WeLOT and IOLS merger won't happen this year.

A few comments some based upon expereince, some based upon supposition Allen, In referecne to recerts, if memory serves, a skills checkoff and written test were all that was needed. HOWEVER most people I knew either A) took the whole course all over again or B) assisted the instuctor in teaching the course, then taking the skills and written test at the end. That's how my YMCA facility did it, as well at the camp when i went for BSA Lifeguard. Several leaders 'helped" teach that course for recert purposes. Gunny, That's a new one for me. I know that BSA Lifeguard has been, IMHO "dumbed down" to no longer include boating rescues like when I took it. O also know that ARC played a major role in creating the new course. Now I've heard is that the feds no longer want folks under 18 working lakes and rivers, hence the reason why camps are building pools when they have awesome lakes to use instead. And since camps will now have pools, no need for BSA lifguards to have boating training as part of their certification. Again that is what i've heard and assumming. And you know what can happen when you assume. I got some friends on staff, and will be talking to some folks if I get the chance to do so.

Short, good question, and the answer is I don't know. I don't see why ARC couldn't allow instructor certification at NCS for ADs like NRA does for Shooting Sports.

Engineer Sorry I have to use this quote from when we were "red flagged" at summer field exercise when I was in JROTC due to weather in the 90s and 85% humidity: "100+ degrees and 100% humidity... that's perfect football weather where we're from." :)LOL Seriously though in SE Louisiana, 100+ degree weather with 100% humidity is the norm. and we were still active. key was to A) drink lots of water, like 4 gallons/day B) pace yourself and C) Schedule as much "wet time" between 10 and 2 as possible. We did lots of boating activities.

Weeping Willow transporter game, table lifting with 2 fingers. Trust fall would be iffy, i'd sticvk with weeping willow.

IMHO, since BSA Lifeguard is now identical to ARC Lifeguard, the same folks wrote both courses and BSA Lifeguard uses ARC videos, I say #1 however long ARC certification is good for should be the same for BSA Lifeguard, and #2 BSA Lifeguards should also get an ARC Lifeguard certification sicne it's the same exact course, esp since some places do not recognize BSA Lifeguard, even though prior to 2008 or 2009 it was THE hardest lifeguard course around. Just my $.02 worth.(This message has been edited by eagle92)

Stosh, And i thought i was the only one with that problem. I break off erasers from pencils and use them as the backing.

Like others, summers were our busy time with more activities going on. Grant you not everyone attended every meeting, but more folks attended the summer meetings thanany other. In addition to folks missing a meeting for vactions which only led to one or two folks being absent, the only times folks would miss a meeting were summer camp staff, folks attending a HA trip (we had folks going with council and other troops), and jambo folks.

On MyScouting.org, Richard Boulon (sp) who works for national did say that the topic of removing the patrol activities exemption was being discussed. Nothing more has come out over there.

NJ, While he is an interesting character, I have had several " conversations" over there with him, I will say this about him: he is knowledgeably about scouting and does seem to have some connections with national, i.e. he wrote a letter about "class A uniform" terms by supply for the new shorts and now the term is no longer in the description. But he still needs to work on some things.

AF, There was an official CS boonie hat. For whatever reason it looks as if national is getting rid of them. The Expedition hats, now called brimmed hats, are also an option and do prove a good bit of shade.

Officially Cubs wear a CS hat, and that's it. Now I have heard of packs doing that, but it's not official. Adults have a little more leeway when it comes to hats. the uniform hats are their options.

Since I'm the one that bought it up. Growing up, the two troops I was in, not counting jambo/Canada troop, were active year round. Now only spent 6 months with one troop, so I don't know how they handled Christmas, but the main troop I was with only took 2 weeks off during the entire year: Christmas break. And even then, we had a few of us going to Winter Camp from 26 December to 31 December. Also the the only other time we did not meet was Good Friday, and whenever the troop was camping, i.e. Summer camp, day after thanksgiving, etc. As mentioned, summer is when we were the most active, and lots of our college age ASMs returned. Now in my current DISTRICT (caps for edit), with the exception of the troop chartered by my CO, all the troops take off for the summer. yes they do trips, summer camp, and what not, in fact one troop is just coming back form the AT, but they do not meet. It is bizarre IMHO. In ref to CS, my understanding is that originally it was designed around a school year, hence the creation of the Summertime Pack Award(This message has been edited by Eagle92)

"fish The only PORS that have specific neckers are TCDL and WDL. Everyoen else wears the generic Coub Scout lEader. As for hats, Each DL is suppose to wear the hat that their boys are wearing, i.e. TCDL= TC hat, CSDL of Wolves wears Wolf hat, etc. etc. CMs and committe members wear the grean hats. And of course the smokeys bears, Expedition hats, etc. are options as well. And if you cna find one, the CS boonie hat is acceptable.

Base, If my comment seemed rude, I apologize as that was not the intent. that's why I included the "heck I wish I would have taken it when I had a chance while in college" quote to show that it was not meant to be rude or obnoxious. Rather it was meant as an FYI, esp now that Sea Scouts and Venturers can go through it. Not many folks in my neck of the woods know that. As for 21 and under folks going through WB, I know of 5. One was 18, three 19, and one 20 or 21.

Base, Any 18 yo is an adult leader in a boy scout troop or CS pack and is eligible to attend WB, as long as they complete basic training that is. Now 18 YO Sea Scouts and Venturers can also attend WB. So the age is not an issue. heck I wish I would have taken it when I had a chance while in college.